Classes at the Art League

I had my last class at the Art League in Alexandria yesterday. After not having taken an art class in 20 years it was a real eye opener. First off, the only person I had any interest in taking classes from was Rob Liberace, an artist whose work I respect highly. A few people were puzzled as to why I’d want to take a class, and concerned it might muck up my style, which never occurred to me, I just wanted to focus on anatomy and a more academic approach to the figure. And with a show coming up in September, it’s a good time for a kick in the ass.

I ended up with several nice pieces, and have an even higher appreciation for anatomy and working with the figure. The other students were very supportive, and most were accomplished artists, doing great work. They did give me a few odd looks when the eye’s inevitably drifted apart, but they figured it out I think. One guy later told me that they wondered if they should say anything, and Rob also made a comment ealy on that the “eyes were too far apart”. I hate to make too big a deal out of the whole eye thing – to me it seems like everyone is doing it. Joe Sorren and Greg Ferrand to just name two.

I hope to get some of the work scanned in, and photos taken in the next couple days and will post here. The three color chalk/pencil technique agrees with me the most, and I could go on and on about the impact Rob had on my painting, but since I have drawing show coming up I need to focus on that. I do look forward to squeezing in some painting as well. One of my objectives was to watch someone else do all this, I always work alone in my studio, so my habits could have been way out of whack. I was happy to know I was doing alot of things right, but I feel much more confident in the technical aspects of my work now.